East Carolina University
7-8 (0-2)
USF
7-8 (1-1)
Late Surge Propels USF Past East Carolina, 58-50
January 03, 2015 | Men's Basketball
TAMPA, Fla. - USF used a 19-8 run over the final 8:18 of the second half to hand East Carolina a 58-50 loss Saturday night at the Sun Dome in the Pirates' first American Athletic Conference road contest.
The Pirates led 44-42 with 7:46 remaining before the Bulls (7-8, 1-1 AAC) scored 12 unanswered to take a 54-44 lead with 1:51 to play. After B.J. Tyson's dunk put ECU (7-8, 0-2) up by two, Chris Perry converted a 3-point play to give USF the lead.
Bo Zeigler then scored seven consecutive points with a pair of baskets in the paint and 3 of 3 free throws. Zeigler entered the game shooting just 31.0 percent (9 of 29) at the foul line. Allen then got free for a layup to cap the run.
"Give them credit, they finished off the game," ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo said. "Our last seven minutes of the game we didn't make the tough plays you need to finish the game, whether it was a big rebound, a big stop or a big basket. We went 5:30 minutes without scoring. It's hard to win on the road scoring 50."
Caleb White hit a 3 with 1:40 to play to cut the Bulls' lead to seven, 54-47, but that's as close as the Pirates got as USF made 4 of 6 free throws down the stretch to close out the game.
Tyson led the Pirates with 16 points off the bench, while Terry Whisnant added 11.
Prior to USF's late game run, the largest lead of the game was six held by East Carolina with 2:00 to play in the first half. The Pirates outscored the Bulls 13-8 over the last 8:52 of the first half to take a 27-25 halftime advantage.
Tyson pushed the Pirates' lead back out to six with a shot clock buzzer-beating 3 less than five minutes into the second half. Tyson scored 10 straight points for the Pirates before the Bulls began their game-ending run.
USF shot 50 percent from the field after halftime, while ECU made just 33.3 percent of its second half field goal attempts. The Bulls finished the game shooting 43.1 percent and the Pirates finished at 35.3 percent.
""It was the second and third shot opportunities that hurt us," Lebo said. "Their size, offensive rebounds and second chance points were the difference in the game."
The undersized Pirates lost the rebounding battle by just five, 37-32, but were outscored in the paint by 14, 32-18, and gave up 18 points on 12 offensive rebounds.
East Carolina returns to the hardwood Tuesday, January 6, at Cincinnati. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start on ESPNU.
